The House Judiciary Committee held an informational session on House Bill 3512, which would prohibit abortions once a pregnancy is in its 20th week, barring a medical emergency threatening the mother’s life.

The meeting was largely symbolic, as the committee’s co-chairmen — Rep. Wayne Krieger, R-Gold Beach, and Rep. Jeff Barker, D-Aloha — had reached an agreement beforehand that the bill would go no further.

“This was about being respectful to both sides of the argument and letting them express their point of view,” Krieger said. “The votes aren’t there this session to pass this legislation.”

The bill will not be scheduled for a work session before the end of Friday, Krieger said, at which point it will die, along with all other bills that have not been slated for a work session.

The bill was heard as a courtesy due to the equal split between the parties in the House, and was never going to be up for an actual vote. Sadly, we can’t say the same for the more than a dozen other states that have passed or are in the process of trying to pass the same law.